


on the open ocean

by sameenf



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: fantasy pirate au? sure why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-30 10:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15749730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sameenf/pseuds/sameenf
Summary: Just a fantasy pirate au. Not much else to add here. Just read, I guess. Thanks.





	1. i

The day was hot and long; Nadine found relief in the setting sky, hues of pink and orange splattered across the horizon and welcoming the upcoming night. She smiled faintly as she stared up through the window in her cabin as a strong breeze sprayed ocean water into her face.  
A knock on the cabin door interrupted her appreciation of the sky, and she groaned internally before swinging the door open. Her second, Orca, panted heavily, clothing drenched in sweat and ocean water. Alcohol wafted off of his breath and she did her best not to pay any mind to it.  
Although he was swaying gently, he looked alarmed, and just the sight of his stress was enough to bring Nadine’s hand to rest on the hilt of her sword. “Speak,” she barked out.  
“Sails,” he told her. “Larger boat than ours.”  
“That’s never been a problem before, Orca. Spit it out—what’s got you all twisted up?”  
“It’s a Drake—Samuel Drake,” he huffed out.  
Nadine’s jaw clenched and she tightened her grip on her sword.  
“Ma’am?” Orca tried.  
Through hard eyes and clenched teeth, she forced out, “Get the men ready. We will take the ship and kill all who are aboard.”  
*  
One man yelled as he swung his sword down at Nadine. She blocked him easily and swiftly stepped to the side before swiping his abdomen with her own sword. He cried out in pain as he fell to the floor.  
She looked around at her men, sword-to-sword, fist-to-fist. Despite Drake having a larger crew, her men seemed to be doing well for themselves. She watched as more of Drake’s men fell dead to the floor before pushing forward towards what she assumed was the captain’s cabin.  
With one kick, the door flew open and nearly came off of its hinges. She searched the room quickly, eyes roaming around for any sight of Samuel Drake, though it was clear he was no longer in the cabin.  
A form shifted on the bed and Nadine held her sword in front of her. “Show yourself,” she commanded.  
“Are you sure?” a female’s voice asked.  
“I said show yourself!”  
A woman’s head appeared from under a sheet, and then her shoulders. As she sat up completely, the sheet fell to pool around her waist and revealed her naked torso. She was completely unabashed and stretched her arms out lazily while yawning. “So,” she said, “what happens now?”  
Nadine faltered and looked away, a blush creeping on her face.  
She heard the woman laugh. “What, you’re not embarrassed, are you?”  
“Of course not! I—wait, I do not need to explain myself to you!” Once again, she pointed the sword at the woman menacingly. “Stand,” she told her.  
The woman shrugged and stood from the bed, and of course she was completely naked. Part of Nadine wanted to run her through just to be done with the encounter, and although the plan was to kill all on the ship, she found herself hesitating—should the innocent not be spared?  
“Who are you?” she asked.  
“I’m Chloe. Chloe Frazer,” the woman—Chloe—told her. She extended her hand, but Nadine pushed it away with the tip of her sword.  
“What are you doing here?”  
Another laugh. “I thought that should be obvious.” Nadine straightened her jaw and Chloe sighed before sitting on the edge of the bed. Outside of the cabin, the shouts and fighting of the men kept roaring. Chloe yawned exaggeratedly. “Well, you see,” she began, “I was here with Nathan Drake—I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”  
“You are testing my patience, Frazer.” Chloe pouted and Nadine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She kept her gaze from drifting down, not wanting to make it seem as though she were checking out the naked body of a strange woman she had found in Nathan Drake’s cabin. Outside, the noise was beginning to die down, and Nadine could hear the excited shouts of her men—ah, then, almost victorious.  
“They saw you before your men saw them. The brothers left, Captain Ross,” Chloe said. Her voice lacked the amusement and snarl of victory that Nadine would have expected. Then she realized—  
“They left you here?” she asked, slightly lowering her sword.  
Chloe rolled her eyes dramatically. “What else would they do with a whore?” Nadine quirked an eyebrow and then looked about the cabin. Then, Chloe stood, and walked over to Nadine. She stood closer than Nadine would have liked, and leaned a forearm on one of her shoulders so she could speak into her ear.  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nadine asked.  
“See, I wasn’t just any whore—I was the best fucking whore anyone will ever see, including you,” Chloe told her in a low voice. Nadine’s cheeks burned as she found herself struggling to breathe.  
“Frazer—keep your distance,” she warned, tilted her sword.  
“I don’t really want to die—does anyone?” Chloe let out a soft chuckle that caused goosebumps to run down Nadine’s arms. “Don’t kill me, Captain Ross. Please?” Her bottom lip jutted out in a plea. “I’ll work for you, if you’d like—”  
Nadine held her hand up and was surprised when Chloe actually stopped talking. She stepped away from the naked woman and walked towards the bed before tossing the sheet at her. “I will not have my men distracted by whores,” she said as Chloe caught the sheet and began wrapping it loosely around her body.  
“Oh? And what of their captain?” she asked with a smirk.  
“No one on my ship will be distracted,” she clarified.  
Chloe’s smirk faded a bit as she tried to understand Nadine’s words. “Does that mean you’ll kill me? Throw my body to the fish as though I were nothing?”  
“No,” Nadine decided. “You’ll work for me—as a cook’s assistant.”  
The other woman blinked at Nadine, staring through her blankly. “As…a cook’s assistant,” she said aloud. Nadine nodded once. Suddenly, Chloe burst out laughing until tears rolled down her cheeks. She stepped up to Nadine and patted her cheek. “That’s hilarious, love.”  
Chloe moved to turn away from her but Nadine held out her sword to block her. “What will it be, Frazer?”  
She looked at Nadine incredulously. “Seriously? Me, work?”  
“Ja. Work, or death. Make your choice, now,” she said as she heard Orca yelling around the ship for her.  
With a frustrated groan, Chloe put her hands up. “Fine, work, I guess.” Nadine ushered her forward and they walked to the deck of the ship. “Sure as hell beats getting fed to the bloody fish,” Chloe muttered under her breath as they ascended the ladder leading up.  
Nadine wondered if she should have just killed Chloe when she first saw her.


	2. Chapter 2

“Why not keep the ship for yourself?” Chloe asked as she watched the flames lick hungrily at Drake’s ship. When Nadine did not answer, she turned to study her. Her arms were crossed over a puffed-out chest and her eyes were hard as she watched the ship with an expression close to contentment. 

“I could ask the same about Drake,” Nadine said finally. “What kind of captain abandons his ship and men?”

Chloe pondered the question for a few moments. They had thrown the bodies to the fish, which she was thankful for, as she was not quite accustomed to the smell of burning flesh. She let out a breath and shrugged. “He can just buy another. It’s not the ship that carries his reputation; it’s his name alone that instills fear in his enemies.”

She allowed herself a small, breathy laugh as Nadine’s jaw clenched. “Relax, love,” she told her playfully, “you’re still the scariest of them all.”

Nadine rolled her eyes. She regarded the not-so-subtle glances that her men were directing at Chloe every so often. “Whatever. Come on, you need to get dressed.”

Chloe ran her hands along the sheet covering her body. “I’m actually quite comfortable in this,” she said.

“Frazer.” 

Without further prompting, Chloe reluctantly followed Nadine to her cabin.

*

The first two days of Chloe’s residency went as well as Nadine had expected it to. She had started two fires, which Nadine believed were purposeful and out of spite for making her work. 

Her constant banter and quips with the cook had caused him to contemplate jumping overboard simply to save himself his sanity. Eventually, he sent Chloe around the ship with busy work, which she rarely ever completed, choosing instead to flirt with Nadine’s crew and distract them just to prove a point.

More than once Nadine had to discipline her men until it came to the point where they pointedly ignored Chloe out of fear. The other woman caught on to what was happening and had her revenge by “accidentally” tipping an entire barrel of fish onto the deck. Of course, she had to clean it, though when Nadine returned later to see how she was faring, it was one of her men picking up the last bits of fish from the deck and Chloe was nowhere to be seen. 

Nadine had dealt with many annoying people – hell, she had dealt with dangerous people, those who wanted her dead, and very nearly achieved their goal many times. Still, she felt completely unprepared when handling Chloe, and more than once she felt her hand slip to the hilt of her sword before she shook the thought from her head and reminded herself that other than being an entitled brat, Chloe had not actually done anything to deserve death.

*

The ship rocked side to side as Nadine shifted around in a light sleep. Despite that she was able to wake at any sudden sound or movement, she failed to hear the lock clicking and the cabin door being gently pushed open.

A quiet voice whispered her name and placed a soft hand on her shoulder, and Nadine woke quickly, grabbed the knife under her pillow, and moved to hold it against the intruder’s throat.

“Whoa,” came the response. Through the darkness Nadine squinted her eyes and made out Chloe’s form, back straight and hands in the air in surrender.

“What the hell are you doing? How did you get in here?” 

“Um…” Chloe looked to the open door with a prideful smile and Nadine grew annoyed.

“Go back to your sleeping quarters, Frazer,” she commanded.

Chloe let out a dramatic sigh and folded her arms across her chest like a child about to throw a tantrum. “But I wanted to show you something!” she whined.

Nadine placed the blade back under her pillow and, with her eyes finally adjusted to the dark, stared at Chloe. “No.” She rose to her feet completely and tried to push Chloe towards the door.

When she finally got the stubborn woman to the door, Chloe turned suddenly to face Nadine, much too close for comfort. She stared into the captain’s eyes with a hint of something Nadine could not place. “Please?” Chloe asked, voice low and soft, taking her lower lip between her teeth in a plea.

“I—”

Whatever protest she had prepared died on her lips and she wordlessly allowed Chloe to lead her to the deck. She felt as though she was stuck in some type of daze—or, at least, that was what she had told herself to make up for the fact that she had actually allowed Chloe to coax her out of her room at the ass crack of dawn. 

With a shameless smile plastered on her face, Chloe went and leaned her weight against her forearms on the side of the ship. She ignored Nadine as she constantly badgered her with questions about what they were doing.

“Sh,” Chloe said eventually, trying to quiet the other woman. “Just wait for him.”

“For who?”

“You’ll see.”

Rolling her eyes, Nadine copied Chloe’s stance next to her, though she allowed a considerable distance between them. There was a twinkle in Chloe’s eye as she watched the sky intently, and it only grew brighter as a light orange began to splatter the horizon as though a painter had lazily just waved his paintbrush about.

As the sun rose, Chloe beamed at Nadine. “Isn’t he beautiful?” she asked, already knowing the answer herself.

Nadine rose an eyebrow at her. “He?”

“Isha!” she cried, almost defensively. 

The captain snorted. “You don’t still believe in the old gods, do you?”

Chloe made a face at her. “Of course I do. Don’t you?”

“Well, I—” Nadine faltered as Chloe stared at her with an intensity she had not expected from such a simple question. “I don’t know,” she answered dumbly.

They stood against the rail, watching the rising sun, for another ten minutes before Nadine stretched her arms and began to walk away, ignoring the looks from the crew that had begun their tasks.

“Where are you going?” Chloe called after her.

“Time to start the day, Frazer. Go get started on breakfast,” she said as she went back to her cabin.

*

The day was hotter than most; even the occasional spray of ocean water did little to cool Nadine down as she stared long out her window. Her mind wandered constantly to the sun rise from the other morning, to the mention of the old gods, and the way that Chloe had looked at her, almost as if she wanted Nadine to believe.

Nadine scoffed and stalked back to her desk, trying to distract herself from the intrusive thoughts of the other woman that seemed to infiltrate her mind for the last few days more often than she wanted to admit. As frustrating as the other woman was, there was something about Nadine that drove away the thoughts of striking her or throwing her overboard.

Perhaps, she thought, she was just not used to someone not being afraid of her, not listening to every command and fulfilling it dutifully. Still, while her mind thought of Chloe in a way that was almost fondness—Nadine nearly vomited at the thought of regarding Chloe as anything but the only prize from her raid of Drake’s ship—she also allowed herself to notice the odd things about the woman.

Like, for instance, the fact that she knows how to pick locks. She remembered yesterday afternoon, when she was going over plans to go to shore for supplies before trekking across the ocean to wherever Drake was rumored to be at. The lock on her door clicked as someone broke in, though she did not even flinch, knowing already that there was only one person on the ship who would ever dare do such a thing.

Chloe had peered through the cracked door with a wide smile. “Hey, china, you’re up!”

Nadine rolled her eyes in response. “What kind of whore is also a lockpick?” she asked, annoyance lacing her voice harshly.

“Just me, I suppose,” had come the answer. Then Nadine had made a point to actively ignore the other woman as she went over the plans in her head and looked at the map sprawled on the desk in front of her.

Now, looking out the window, she forced herself to shake the thoughts of Chloe from her mind. She walked out of the cabin briskly, determinedly, with a look on her face that caused the men in her way to jump back quickly. 

Chloe was not on deck, and instead Nadine focused her attention on the approaching land. She knew that getting supplies was not going to go as smoothly as one would hope; Kisla was a fishing village known for its loyalty to the Drakes. Although they allowed other pirates to enter the village and trade in the market, the residents of the village were definitely going to show at least some apprehension towards Nadine, Drake’s most avid adversary. 

She yawned and retired to her cabin, calling Orca in after her to go over the plans she had begun formulating. 

*

“Why are we going alone?” Chloe asked, grunting as she continued to row the oars of the small boat.

Nadine sighed, annoyed that she had to explain it to Chloe for a third time. “Do you even pay attention when I speak to you?”

“Sorry? What was that?” A smile ghosted over Chloe’s features as Nadine grew exasperated. “I’m just kidding, love,” she told her. Against herself, Nadine tossed a handful of water at Chloe in retaliation and smiled at the sound of her surprised shriek.

Chloe wiped the water from her face, a smile gracing her delicate features. “Oh, I am totally going to get you back for that.”

“Is that a threat?” 

“It’s a promise,” Chloe husked out. The tension turned from friendly to something that Nadine wanted to ignore—she refused to acknowledge the light in Chloe’s eyes, the way that she eyed Nadine’s soaked shirt. 

Nadine cleared her throat as they came closer to land. “Help me drag the boat,” she said, jumping out. “With just the two of us, the locals will not feel threatened; they may actually give us what we are here for.”

“Let’s hope,” Chloe said.

She regarded Chloe with a look of confusion. “Why do you sound like you actually may care?” she asked.

Chloe let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Honestly, love, you kind of saved my arse.” Nadine raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue. “I hadn’t been on the Drake’s ship very long—not long enough to actually work, anyway, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Well, by the time they spotted your ship, I was already naked and waiting in bed—which you obviously know already from our first meeting—but Nathan simply told me that they were in trouble, and that he and his brother were going to leave. He considered taking me, I think, but there was hardly enough room in the boat they took—they needed to take one much smaller than the others so that your men would spot only their ship and not their escape. Besides, it’s not like I had even slept with him yet; he held no obligation to ensure my safety.”

“Perhaps he knew I would spare an innocent,” Nadine offered. Chloe shook her head with a sad smile.

“I doubt it.”

Nadine studied her face, the faraway look in her eyes as she stared at the seemingly endless ocean, and, suddenly, realized. “You’re lying,” she said bluntly.

The other woman snapped her head to stare at her coldly. “What?” she asked, noticeably offended.

“There’s something you aren’t telling me; you’re more than just a simple whore taken for a cruise, aren’t you?” Nadine pressed, eyes matching the same cold expression. 

Chloe’s cheeks turned red, though she was unable to understand why lying now did not come as naturally as it normally did. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she stumbled out.

The expression of the captain turned darker than Chloe imagined it could, and her voice sent chills down Chloe’s spine. “Give me one good reason why I should not kill you, especially if you prove yourself to not be as innocent as I once believed.”

Nadine jumped off the side of the boat to drag it to land, never taking her eyes off of Chloe. “I—look, maybe I wasn’t completely honest—”

Chloe jerked in fear as Nadine angrily slammed her hands against the side of the boat. “Damn it, Frazer, spit it out!”

She refused to make eye contact with Nadine and wrung her hands together anxiously. “Perhaps I wasn’t…a whore…although that is certainly what Nathan and Samuel thought.”

“So what are you?” Nadine growled out impatiently.

Chloe took in a deep breath. “Well, I—sometimes I procure…expensive items…from certain pirates.”

 

“You’re a thief,” Nadine stated. 

 

“I prefer ‘collector’.”

 

Nadine blinked hard and stared at Chloe for a time that was less than comfortable for both women. Then, she turned her back and walked towards the market, ignoring the look of the few locals that were gathered near the two of them.

 

“Nadine, wait!” Chloe called as she jogged to catch up with her. “What does this change? I’m still yours,” she said, then, realizing the awkwardness of her wording, added, “well, your prisoner, anyway.”

Nadine stopped short and turned to Chloe. She spat out, through clenched teeth, “You are not a prisoner, Frazer. You can leave. Now.”

Chloe knew it was not an offer, but a warning—"Get the fuck away from me before you become something worse than a prisoner."

The ship captain continued walking, breathing heavily as she tried to calm the anger that was rising quickly and efficiently. She did not want to cause a scene; it was only going to arouse suspicion among the locals and prevent her from getting what she came for.

Chloe scrambled along behind her, not knowing what else to do. “Nadine, wait,” she said.

Still, Nadine refused to acknowledge her and quickened her pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! ok so like,,,on day 3 of chlodine week i started writing the chapter for the memento AND lights prompt since i missed the day 2 after i drank an entire bottle of wine BUT then the entire thing got deleted so what did i do? i drank another entire bottle of wine just now thinking that MAYBE if i am as intoxicated tonight as i was the other night, it would come out the same. didn't quite come out as great as the draft i lost, but whatever, i'm too fucked to care. so instead of this being the memento chapter i did it out of order and instead it's the lights prompt chapter, then the next chapter will be memento AND animals, and the chapter AFTER (im hoping to write both tomorrow so that i can post the "partners" prompt on the day it's supposed to be lmfao) will be partners wish me luck homies
> 
> HERE ARE SOME GAYS FOR YA

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this because I had the idea from watching Black Sails I guess, BUT now that I know it's Chlodine week the first seven chapters will reflect the prompts. So, chapter one: flustered.


End file.
